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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520271">Home Safe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowyTwilight/pseuds/ShadowyTwilight'>ShadowyTwilight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hope is a Fragile Thing [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alpha and Omega - Patricia Briggs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bran Cornick love, F/M, Leah is dead, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Werewolf Mates, marrok - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:15:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,442</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520271</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowyTwilight/pseuds/ShadowyTwilight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tamarind has been a lone wolf for over a decade.  She wants nothing and no one. Stories of a mysterious submissive female had gotten back to Bran, but in light of recent events, he sends Anna and Charles to investigate. Will he be able to pull himself together enough to realize what is right in front of him?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bran Cornick/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hope is a Fragile Thing [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928386</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home Safe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>In this story, obviously Leah is dead. This is my first time writing fanfiction in a decade--have mercy. Also, like all good love stories, it will get hot and heavy in time. Patience is a virtue my friends. This begins somewhere between the second and third Alpha and Omega books. Also, this is to prove that just because she's a submissive wolf, doesn't mean she's a doormat.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Hope is a thing with feathers -</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That perches on the soul-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And sings a tune without words</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And never stops-at all-" Emily Dickinson</em>
</p><p> </p><p>       Tamarind or Rynn as she’d gone by here, looked at the flat white skies overhead and rubbed her collarbone absentmindedly. Stale smoke and heavy air coated the back of her throat, much like the anxiety pooling in her stomach. Between the wildfires raging just over the mountains, and the new wolf at Jimmy’s, stress had left her hazel eyes rimmed with gold in the weak sunshine. </p><p>       As the last ten dollars of her paycheck dripped into her gas tank, she checked the parking lot one last time for strangers. Podunk Purdy had been a safe haven for almost seven months, but it was time to leave. There had been that weird scent in the woods after that rainstorm in September, then last week she had caught a glimpse of a wolf at Jimmy’s right before she went home ‘sick.’ Although the panic attack that had followed would probably have counted. </p><p>       A nondescript SUV pulled in behind her just as she climbed in her truck. Checking the rearview mirror was reflex, but Rynn wasn’t prepared for the wolf eyes that met hers. Jerking her eyes away, she jammed a key in the ignition, pulling out on to 302 before even thinking of how suspicious she must have looked.</p><p>      “Shit, shit, shit. Who are they? How did they find me?”</p><p>       Panic rose in her chest, and she felt the steering wheel creak under her hands. She kept glancing back for some kind of pursuit, that SUV bearing down on her, but left turn, right turn, left again onto a dirt road...nothing. The rabbit warren of roads that led to her home only had one route, they couldn’t have passed her. One last look in her mirror before she turned up her driveway, and there wasn’t even a set of distant headlights in the growing dusk. </p><p>       Home safe. </p><p>       She didn’t feel safe. She felt exposed. Breathing deep as she headed up the steps to her house,  there didn’t seem to be anything out of order. </p><p>       “Time to go, little man,” Rynn called out as she coaxed the lock turn with a ‘snick.’</p><p>             The door opened to silence. </p><p>                 No little whines and yips.</p><p>                    No scratch of happy dancing feet.</p><p>Just strangers in her living room.</p><p>       It was suddenly hard for Rynn to breathe. She needed to run. Now. She took a step back. But--</p><p>       “<b>Stop.” </b>His voice was rich and dominant, but dominance hurts.</p><p>       Freezing in the doorway, the panic that had been simmering under her collarbone evaporated into rage. Her wolf hid in the presence of dominance like that, but Rynn bared her teeth at the threat in her home. </p><p>       “Where is he?” </p><p><b>       “Come here.” </b>Her voice was smooth and dominant, but dominance takes.</p><p>        She took an unbidden step towards him before even realizing she had moved. Turning her face from him, Rynn balled her hands into fists, nails cutting into her palms. The urge to submit was unmatched by anything she had felt before. Shaking and sweating, she stumbled another step closer. </p><p><b>       “Come.”</b> They sounded so warm and gentle and dangerous. Anyone that unassuming could only lead to pain. </p><p>       She was panting now, like a wolf in duress, and she didn’t remember taking another two steps. Tamarind swallowed convulsively, trying not to hurl. He was close enough to touch her now, and the hand that touched her cheek made her flinch. He turned her face towards him, and was met with tear tracks on her cheeks and defiant eyes.</p><p>
  <b>       “Enough.”</b>
</p><p>       “Charles, maybe we should all just sit down and talk for a moment.” A brunette woman waved from behind him, “My name is Anna, and this is my mate, Charles. We heard about you and came to check in. Your dog is safe and locked in the bedroom, we didn’t want any complications. He’s very sweet. Will you come sit down?”</p><p>       The command was phrased as a question, but Tamarind felt it grip around her like a vise. Jerking her face from his hand, Tamarind side-stepped passed them to perch on the edge of the couch. Shoulders hunched and shaking, she waited for one of them to speak. </p><p>       It was the woman who broke the silence, “So who are you?” </p><p>       Anna sat gracefully next to Tamarind on the couch, absentmindedly picking the dog hair off the seat beside her. Her voice was even, but it was her posture that felt safe. Usually the ones who hurt, don’t want to talk first. </p><p>       She spoke quietly to the floor, “My name is Tamarind, but I mostly go by Rynn.”</p><p>       Standing behind his mate, Charles’ face was impassive with the exception of the wolf leaking in his eyes. A tortured submissive brings the human to the forefront, and her display of rebellion spoke more than she knew. </p><p>       “Okay, Rynn, how long have you been a wolf?”</p><p>       That question felt more dangerous. She snuck a peek at the man behind Anna, and felt that familiar fear at the sight of his golden eyes watching her. Wolf dominant already--how many more questions before there was pain? She flinched away from them both and scooted further down the couch, making safety where she could.</p><p>       “13 years, 8 months, and 4 days.” </p><p>       “You’re okay, Rynn, I promise we’re not going to hurt you. Now how did you become a werewolf?” </p><p>        How could she tell the truth like that, while his body language behind her lied? This question was even worse than the last, and at this rate would only get worse. Even she could smell the rank scent of fear coming off of her. She reached for wolf strength and found it whimpering inside her. Just as before, Tamarind would fight this battle alone. </p><p>        “You’re lying.”</p><p>       Anna sounded confused, “I’m sorry, what?”</p><p>       Rynn glared at the woman. “I said, ‘you’re lying’. I’m not okay. There are strangers in my house!  And you didn’t come all this way just to check in. You came to hurt me, just like all dominants do. You came to subdue, claim, control. All that rage in your eyes...how can you do anything but hurt everything you touch?” </p><p>       What had started so confident, ended with a choked sob. </p><p>        Husband and wife traded worried glances. Tamarind didn’t see them. Breathing shallowly, she stared through Charles, glassy eyed.  As she rubbed her collarbone distractedly, her sleeve pushed down and revealed glimpses of scars. <br/>       “Rynn, we can talk about—“</p><p>         In a voice that was alien and remote, Rynn began a well-rehearsed story.</p><p>        “I had gone to France my senior year of high school to study abroad. The group I was with was based out of Southern France, and we were visiting the town of Langogne over our spring holliday. Jeanne wanted to go to a bonfire down by Lac de Naussac and practice our French with the locals. We swapped scary stories that night, one of them told the tale of the “Beast of Gevaudan.””</p><p>       She swallowed convulsively, hand still rubbing that spot on her chest.<br/>       “The girls laughed at me, but I swear to you I heard something howl in that forest. It took us too long to realize that we were being left by the bonfire. By then there were only six of us left--all American girls.”</p><p>       She panted openly now. Seeing monsters in her memories.</p><p>       “It hunted us that night. Herding us deeper into the forest. Keeping us together, then taking one from the very middle of us with no warning. Killing us in terrible ways. Jeanne bled out in my arms. Her mother would not have recognized what was left. I was the last to look into those mad eyes. And the next morning when I awoke screaming, covered in blood, the villagers looked at me like I was the monster.”</p><p>       Moving steadily closer, Anna slowly put a gentle hand on her arm. Rynn took a long pause before finally seeing Anna.</p><p>       “I was a monster. I am. The next night was my first full moon, and I hunted every one of those bastards from the bonfire. Slaughtered them in their sleep. Some of them woke up and cried. And that’s not the worst part. The worst part is when I changed back, I wasn’t even sorry. I got on my plane and flew away and never looked back. I am a monster. I am. I-I-I--”</p><p>        Anna pulled her into a hug. Crooning softly as the girl collapsed in sobs in her arms. Looking at Charles, she saw the same worry mirrored in his eyes.</p><p>“That doesn’t answer anything.” </p>
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